I fell in love with a nerd

Chapter Ten - Dropped a bomb

Melissa P.O.V.

So as it turns out, finally coming clean about everything was a great thing. My next and last set of foster parents turned out to be totally awesome. I'd been with Tim and Emma Richman for three months now. They were in their upper thirties and took great pride in their foster children. They had never been able to have children of their own so they had become licensed foster parents for unselfish reasons. They explained to me that they felt like the reason they weren't blessed with children of their own was because they were meant to help children in need instead. It was quite refreshing after all the hell I'd been through.

Jake kept his promise. Once I got settled with the Richman's, I called him with their phone number and we talked every single day. He was still bummed out that I'd been sent away, but it was only an hour drive so we tried to get together on the weekends. The Richman's even let me borrow their car. I couldn't work at Don's Diner anymore, but I still babysat for Jenny Price every now and again. Julie and Janie were growing up so fast and I was glad to still be around to continue watching them grow. Jenny just recently started dating some new guy and was over the moon over him. Luckily though, Jenny was smart enough not to jump into anything too serious, too quickly. She had two little girls to think about, after all. I loved Jenny to pieces and she deserved all of the happiness in the world, so I hoped things worked out with this new guy.

I'd officially turned eighteen last month and was set to graduate from high school today. Tim and Emma had let me stay with them so I could finish high school. I'd decided not to transfer back to Chester High. Rebecca had been right, it was too much hassle. Besides, as long as I got a diploma, what did it matter where it came from? So here I sat, impatiently waiting for the Principle to call through the list of names of everyone graduating, until I finally heard, "Melissa Stone..."

I got up, walked onto the stage, and accepted my high school diploma. I heard extra loud cheering coming from my left, so I turned that way and saw Jake, Carol, Kris, Chase, Logan, Bree, and Jenny with her two girls. Bree was Logan's new girlfriend. She was actually Kris's cousin, so she didn't go to school with them. I knew the pains of a long distance relationship myself. So I was glad that Bree and Logan seemed to be making it work. Bree was just like Kris, beautiful on the inside and out.

As touched as I was that everyone calm to see me graduate, my sole focus zeroed in on my boyfriend. I'd just gone to his graduation last weekend, but it felt like I hadn't seen him in an eternity. Some people may say that we will never work out and honestly I couldn't tell them what my future held. I hoped Jake and I survived. We were going to be attending two different colleges, but only thirty minutes apart. So we had decided to get a joint apartment together, somewhere in between. Carol hadn't been too happy to learn that, but had eventually come around. I think it helped when Logan was teasing Jake about missing out on the dorm room action. Apparently the thought of her son shacking up with only me was better than God only knew what he'd get himself into at the dorms.

Everything was falling into place for me. I had college lined out, my boyfriend would be my roommate, and I could actually say that I had people who loved me. I still worried sometimes that Jake would get bored with me. We still hadn't had sex, but I didn't plan on making him wait too much longer. All he had to do was kiss me and I was ready to strip for him. If I could survive the summer without giving in, maybe we could christen our new place by giving him my virginity?

Jake picked me up and twirled me around, as soon as I exited the stage. I squeezed him tight for a moment before reluctantly letting him go and returning to my seat. The principle finished naming every student and proudly announced our class. I didn't bother throwing my cap in the air and hollering, like everyone else did. I headed straight for Jake and didn't stop until I was in his arms with his lips on mine.

"Get a room." Logan joined us.

"Ok." Jake agreed and pretended like he was going to drag me off somewhere.

I giggled when his mom playfully smacked him on the back of the head. Carol had become like a mother to me. When I had something on my mind and didn't feel comfortable talking to Jake about it, Carol had made it clear that she was there for me. Between her, Emma, Jenny, Kris, and Bree I finally had women in my life who showed what it was like to truly care about someone. They, along with Jake and his best buds, helped me realize that not everyone was like my parents. I felt like I had roots now. A few months ago and that thought might have scared me, but not with the caring people I had in my life.

A couple weeks ago, Jake had even talked me into going with his mom to the bank, to set up a savings account. So my zip lock baggy bank was no more. When I had revealed to Jake that he'd had a baggy of money stashed under his dresser all of these months, he had simply smiled at me and then lovingly called me an idiot, before sarcastically telling me about these things called banks. Since I'm eighteen now, I felt more comfortable opening an account. Before that, I couldn't risk anyone else getting their hands on my account. Carol had gladly gone with me and even made a comment about me being like a daughter to her, which only made me cry. There were good people in the world.

Brittany Hodges, on the hand, had shown me that there are other people out there just like my parents, who only cared about themselves. Two weeks ago, Brittany had begun to have labor pains, but was too high to even realize that's what was happening. Her mother had found her passed out on her bedroom floor in a pool of blood. They'd rushed her to the hospital and they'd been forced to deliver her baby. The little girl had already been dead at delivery and they discovered high levels of several different kinds of drugs in Brittany's system. It was so sad and Jake had a really hard time, hearing the news. He still hadn't been sure whether the baby was his or not, but the thought that his baby hadn't even been given a chance at life, had made him sick.

A few days after that, however, Brittany had dropped a bomb bigger than anyone could have imagined. Her system had been flushed of all the drugs and she'd been seeing clearly for the first time in a long time. She'd confessed all. Jake had not been the father, but the baby actually would have been his half-sister. The rumor about Brittany hooking up with a fellow student's dad was apparently very true and turned out to be Jake's dad. When she'd told him that she was expecting his child, he'd pretty much kicked her to the curb and told her to deal with it, which is why Brittany had desperately tried hanging onto Jake. Upon learning these fun facts about his father, Jake decided that he was completely done with the man. Their relationship had already been rocky, at best, but learning everything else had been the last straw.

Not only did Jake discover his father's secrets, but Brittany had also revealed that she'd had a short affair with Coach Michael Rayne. Jake had already suspected that his father was a sleaze ball, but learning that his coach of four years also had no problem sleeping with a minor had divested Jake. I knew that even though Jake had been pissed the coach had ordered the tutoring sessions, Jake had still looked up to the man. Coach Rayne had been fired the next day and had left the school quietly.

I shook those memories away and focused on the present. Jake had his arm slung over my shoulders and I squeezed him tight. He looked down at me and asked, "Everything ok?"

I nodded, "It couldn't be better. I love you, you know?"

He nodded, smiling, "I know. I love you too."

The first time I'd told him that I loved him was over the phone. I wish I'd had the guts to return his words the first time he'd told me, but it shocked me when he said them and I had still been scared that he'd get bored with me. When he kept his promise, talking to me on the phone, day after day, I finally got up enough courage to say the words back to him. He'd gone silent for so long I'd thought he'd hung up on me, but he'd just been too emotional to speak for a minute. Although, he'd never admit to anyone that he got emotional, the macho man that he is.

"So you're happy?" He prompted.

I blinked, "Of course I am."

He smiled and hugged me tight, saying, "Good."